Face to Face with a Progressive

Andrew Carlson has done a number of things in his life. He worked as a cook in a downtown Denver soup kitchen, got into construction focusing on restoring historic homes and buildings, and now spends his time writing.

But Carlson has another side that, in some ways, is rather surprising. He also has a Ph.D. in philosophy with an emphasis on ethics. In particular, his writing focuses on “The Progressive Worldview.”

Recently he wrote an article for the LA Progressive. You can read it at: https://www.laprogressive.com/progressive-issues/progressive-worldview. This is a website designed to intentionally bring to the fore the progressive voice in Los Angeles in order to provide a platform for progressive thought, opinion, and perspectives on current events. There are many writers that contribute to this forum, one of which is Carlson.

In his article, Carlson asked a couple of questions.

1. “Most contemporary progressives still seem reluctant to stand up and say, ‘I hold a progressive worldview and I’m proud of it.’ Why is that?”
2. “Why don’t you ever hear progressives trumpeting their own grounding worldview?”

As for the first question, I’m not really sure how true that is. There seems to be no shortage of people who actually do trumpet their progressive worldview. That said, there are a lot of progressives who are shy in the way Carlson has lamented. I think the main reason most are shy is because when the light of truth is shined on progressive ideas and policies, the massive deficiencies of that viewpoint are exposed – and people don’t like looking bad out in public.

Concerning the second question, the reason most progressives don’t trumpet “their own grounding worldview” is that they have no idea what that even means. They probably don’t know what those underlying ideas are, and even if they do, don’t know how to express them.

When most progressives talk about their beliefs, what they are actually talking about are the kinds of public policies they would like to see implemented in society. And those policies are based 100% on naturalistic beliefs. For progressives, their Marxist policy positions represent the doctrines of their naturalistic faith. They have no objective reason for holding them, as those doctrines are merely their personal preference. (To be fair, most Christians couldn’t explain their own worldview beliefs either. Worldview beliefs underlie the conscious religious beliefs they hold, and are mostly unconscious to all except those who have made the effort to deliberately study them.)

While the questions Carlson asks at the beginning of his article are quite interesting (and revealing), what he says at the end of the article is even more so. He writes:

“With The Progressive Worldview Blog, I hope to discuss what it means to be a progressive in more informal fashion, throwing out ideas as they occur to me .... That said, I do not claim to have any monopoly on knowing what progressives do or should believe (my emphasis), so I am hoping this blog will further serve as a forum for discussion where progressives—and perhaps even some of our critics—can share their own views on what it means to be a progressive and what we are called to do in these challenging times. I hope you will join me.”

I actually did write a comment about his article on that website (about a month ago, as of this writing), but so far there has been no response – either from him or his progressive friends. Makes me wonder how serious he was about wanting other views.

But the fascinating thing to me in his comments, was his statement that “I do not claim to have any monopoly on knowing what progressives do or should believe.” What? If he doesn’t know what he is writing about, why is he even doing it?

There actually is a reason for him to make a statement like that based on his progressive beliefs. Progressivism, based on its naturalistic worldview roots, has no objective way to assert any kind of moral beliefs. Since progressives do not believe in a transcendent reality where objective beliefs could possibly come from, their moral beliefs have no other possibility than to be purely the subjective desires of those who hold them. And there is also no other possibility but that the moral beliefs that rule the day come from those who have the power and influence to impose them on society.

And that’s the real story of progressivism. While they have very strong moral opinions about how society should move forward, they are exactly that – opinions. Their beliefs are not true and right because they are true and right, but because that is what they want to believe and are determined that everyone else is going to bow down to them. That’s the way they roll.

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Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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